1. Field
Aspects of the invention relate to roller blinds for opening and closing compartments, storage boxes, control consoles and/or other similar enclosures, in particular enclosures in motor vehicles.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In upper mid-range or top-range motor vehicles, high requirements are placed on the appearance of the interior and in particular on the trim on compartments, control elements, storage compartments and the like, particularly in the region of the center console. As a result, roller blinds have been used in certain areas of motor vehicles to permit the movable opening and closing of these enclosures by hand.
Roller blinds of this kind generally comprise a plurality of support elements or slats connected to each other by means of an elastic connecting layer in such a way that the support elements engage in guides along which the roller blind moves. Typically, the displacement path of the roller blind is arranged so that the roller blind is forced out of a substantially horizontal alignment through a radius of curvature and into a substantially vertical alignment during opening of the roller blind.
For reasons of appearance, roller blinds typically include an outer decorative layer (i.e., a surface layer facing away from the opening to be closed) that is subsequently applied to the elastic layer connecting the slats. This layer is often formed, for example, of metal, wood, leather, cloth or film. The decorative layer is typically designed to meet certain requirements, such as aesthetics, resistance to mechanical and atmospheric influences and light, and ease of cleaning.
In this way, the known decorative layers fulfil most all aesthetic and functional requirements, but generally have a hard surface and are therefore not suitable, for example, for use as part of an armrest.